The present invention related to a frustrated total internal reflection/total internal reflection (FTIR/TIR) optical fiber switch.
Conventional frustrated total internal reflection/total internal reflection optical fiber switches operate by displacing at least one of the fibers to contact, or come within less than a micron from contact with, the other fiber (closed position) or to release contact with the other fiber (opened position). Generally, the optical fibers connect one another at ends which are formed transverse to the longitudinal axis of the fibers and coplanar to one another. In the closed position, input light is transmitted from one optical fiber to the other with little or no transmission loss. In the opened position, in which a gap exists of greater than one micron between the optical fibers, input light is reflected from one of the fibers, leading to complete or partial transmission loss. Complete transmission loss occurs during total internal reflection, when light approaches a dielectric interface at or above a critical angle and is thereby suppressed from being transmitted to the other optical fiber. When the angle is below the critical angle, or the distance between the optical fibers is sufficiently small, some input light may cross the gap between the optical fibers and thereby frustrate the total internal reflection. An example of such a conventional optical switch is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,266 and 4,176,908.
The invention provides an optical switch that includes first and second optical arrays separated by an interface, and a support structure upon which the optical arrays are mounted. The support structure includes an area which has a flexing profile that differs from the remainder of the support structure such that upon the operation of force on the support structure the optical arrays are optically coupled or decoupled.
The invention also provides an optical switch that includes first, second, third, fourth and fifth optical arrays and a support structure upon which the first, second and third optical arrays are mounted. The third optical array is interposed between the first and second optical arrays, the first and third optical arrays are separated by a first interface, and the second and third optical arrays are separated by a second interface. The support structure includes a pair of areas which each have a flexing profile that differs from the remainder of the support structure. The fourth optical array is positioned transverse to the first and third optical arrays in the vicinity of the first interface and the optical array is positioned transverse to the second and third optical arrays in the vicinity of the second interface.
The invention further provides a method for assembling an optical switch. The method includes aligning at least a first optical array and a second optical array relative to one another with an alignment tool, positioning the at least first and second optical arrays on a support structure, immobilizing the at least first and second optical arrays relative to the support structure, and removing the tool from the at least first and second optical arrays.
The foregoing and other advantages and features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the invention, which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.